The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) said it feels outraged and betrayed by South African Rugby's decision to send an under-strength squad to Australia and New Zealand for their remaining Tri-Nations Tests.
Jake White, Springbok coach, has opted to rest his big guns for the Australasian leg, saying it would be "a ludicrous risk" to take all his players on tour in a World Cup year.
The decision has not gone down well in Australia, with Peter McGrath, ARU chairman, saying the Australian rugby public had purchased tickets for the July 7 Test in Sydney in good faith of a full-strength South African team.
"We had previously sought, and received, an assurance that they would be sending their best available Test team," McGrath said in a statement on Monday.
"We recognise that the rugby public has purchased tickets for this match in good faith and would feel betrayed by this decision by the South Africans. The ARU understands their (the fans') outrage.
"We are seeking an urgent meeting of SANZAR (the partnership body governing South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby) to overturn this decision.
"The agreement between us clearly calls for each nation to field its best team and with SAR's decision this is clearly not the case."
Busy schedule
"On behalf of the fans, those people who in good faith bought tickets to the Wallabies' Test against South Africa, we will pursue this issue and seek to get the decision reversed.
"It may be a Rugby World Cup year and the Springboks may have played five Tests in a row but we face the same situation. We all knew the Test schedule well in advance, we all knew about the Rugby World Cup.
"South Africa needs to look to a future beyond the World Cup and address these concerns urgently."
South Africa are scheduled to play Australia in Sydney on July 7, and then New Zealand in Christchurch on July 14 to complete their Tri-Nations campaign.